Building Bridges
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Follows Shiba House Gets Heated. Jayden's wronged the Rangers in so many ways, but no matter what he does, he's still their leader and friend. Can they be the bigger person and learn to forgive what truly was a mistake?
1. Forgiveness

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything_

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><p>This wasn't where she wanted to be. Everything felt so strange to her. She could barely find her way around the house; she had no idea whose stuff was on the floor, on the shelves and on the walls. She could hardly recognise the faces staring back at her. Emily wanted to be home.<p>

Her friends were trying to help bring home back to the Shiba House. They were all sitting around the common room table discussing the pros and cons to giving Jayden their trust after what he had done. They were trying very hard to look at things from the red Ranger's perspective to see if maybe there was a good reason behind his actions. It wasn't easy, but they were slowly beginning to realise that maybe it was best to give him a second chance.

"This won't be forgotten, though," Kevin stated and Antonio, Mike, and Mia nodded their heads.

"It shouldn't be," Mia said. "No matter how you look at it, it's always going to be bad. But it's his first offense. He's always tried to look out for us before, and he really seems to be hurting."

"As much as I hate it, the Black Box is important," Antonio added. "The Nighlok are getting stronger. We are going to need it. Jayden's plan, while stupid, did have merit. He didn't want to hurt you guys like he did. He tried to be as honest as he could… though he did beat around the bush."

"That doesn't mean he had to hurt us to program it, though," Mike said. "He should have waited to figure it out, or he should have been honest with us right from the start. It's the lying that bothers me. Why did he think he could get away with it?"

"I wasn't trying to get away with it," Jayden stepped into the room cautiously. He could hear the Rangers chatting about his from his bedroom and wanted to join the conversation. If they were going to give him a chance to speak, he needed to be there to speak. "I hate lying to you, I really do."

"You should have just told us the truth," Mike looked to his leader. "We had a right to know we would get hurt."

"I told you, Emily, didn't I?" Jayden turned to Emily. "Before we programmed your Stone, I…"

"Don't talk to her," Mike snapped. He was willing to give Jayden a second chance, but he didn't want to stick Emily in the middle of the arguments. He didn't want anyone forcing her to choose sides. Her silence up until now spoke volumes on how she was feeling. "We get it. You took her out into the middle of nowhere and came clean. You programmed her Stone and something went wrong. If you hadn't of lied and that happened, we could have all been there to help."

"I'm really sorry," Jayden said to Mike and then looked at Emily. "It was stupid and wrong of me to lie. Watching you all suffer was hard for me, but it must have hurt you all a lot more."

"Well, it's an apology," Mia sighed. She offered Jayden a small smile, but her expression was still dead serious, "This is hard for all of us, Jayden. As red Ranger, you have a huge responsibility. Our lives are in your hands. Every day we have to trust that you're going to pull us out of crazy and dangerous situations. You can't drag us into them."

"I know…"

"This won't ever be forgotten, Jayden," Mia said. "We can't ever forget how you hurt us. Our lives are in so much danger already and this just adds to it. If we can't trust our leader, who can we trust?"

"Only each other," Jayden breathed. He looked to each of his teammates, "I know it's going to take a long time for you to believe in me again. I know things might not go back to the way they were before. I'm ready to accept that. I hurt you all, and it was wrong. You aren't mindless followers ready to be sacrificed, you're my friends. You've done so much for me and in returned I lied to you. I'm really sorry."

Kevin sighed loudly and rolled his eyes, "I want to believe you, Jayden, but…"

"But?"

"How do we know you aren't sweet talking us right now?" Kevin asked. He looked to Mia, Mike, and Antonio for support. At different degrees, they all nodded their heads. They knew where Kevin was coming from with his reservations. Once trust was broken it was hard to earn back. "You're saying everything right… it's like you rehearsed this. Like you want to say all the right things perfectly."

"I do," Jayden answered. "You're my friends; my family! I hate that you're mad at me. I screwed up, I know I did and I'm trying to make things right."

Kevin looked unconvinced. Jayden turned to Antonio, hoping his best friend would be able to help him out. He had been completely honest with the gold Ranger from the start. Antonio knew every detail of what had happened. If he wanted a chance at earning his friends' love back, he needed Antonio's support.

"Please, Antonio. Tell them what I told you."

"You planned on deceiving them right from the start…"

"I did what I needed to do for a reason."

"You didn't have to lie to them."

"Antonio…"

"It's hard, Jayden…"

"But, please…"

"Shut up!" Emily screamed as she jumped up from her chair. "I don't like all the fighting! This isn't fun anymore. It never was and it wasn't supposed to be. You're all being big babies!"

"Emily…"

"You're all so used to fighting you forgot how to forgive!"

"Emily, where are you going?" Mia asked as the yellow Ranger started making her way to the door. Emily slipped her shoes on and glared at her friends as they all gathered in the hallway.

"It's not safe in here anymore. I'm not coming back until I can come back home," Emily yanked the door opened and stormed out of the house. Mike tried to go after her but Jayden caught his arm.

"She has her Samuraizer with her. She'll be fine."

"Are you nuts?"

"Emily's got a point," Mia whispered softly. She looked at the boys. "This place does kind of feel weird. I haven't been comfortable in this house for a long time."

"It's because of Jayden," Mike growled as he eyed his leader. "If you hadn't of…"

"I've apologized, Mike. There's nothing more I can do. You have to be willing to meet with me half way," Jayden begged. "I can't show you I'm trustworthy if you won't give me a little trust. I'll do anything for it! I'll clean up after the dog every time he goes outside! I'll make every meal for a month! I'll wash your uniforms. Give me something to show you I'm being honest."

Kevin placed his hand on Mike's shoulder and looked Jayden in the eye. He knew his leader was being sincere, and though it was hard to put give his trust to someone who had caused him and his family so much pain, Jayden needed to be tested.

"Why should you continue to lead the team?" Kevin asked Jayden. "If we don't trust you, it would be stupid to keep you as leader. Defend yourself and convince us."

Jayden looked stunned for a moment but if this was his chance he was going to take it.

"I screwed up. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last. But I can guarantee the team's safety is my number on priority. There's nothing more important to me than you guys. I knew that before all this happened, and I really know that now."

Kevin took a deep breath, "Okay. That's a start."

"What?" Mike frowned and looked up at his best friend. Kevin squeezed his shoulder.

"We'll all be civil. We could fight for years without ever accomplishing anything. If we forgive Jayden, we run the risk of getting hurt again, but there's also a chance this won't ever happen again."

"I won't ever put you guys in any danger ever again," Jayden nodded his head and then looked his team in the eyes, "I'm so, so sorry."

Mia offered Jayden a smile before she pulled him into a one armed hug. Antonio's expression softened and he joined the pair. Mike looked up at Kevin hesitantly before the blue Ranger smiled.

"It's fine, Mike."

The green Ranger sighed before he too smiled. Mia and Antonio let go of Jayden and the red Ranger looked to Mike. They bumped fists.

"We're just missing one person," Mia pointed out. She gestured to the door, "We better go find her before she hurts herself."

"Says the Ranger in a cast," Antonio chuckled.

"You know what's good about this cast," Mia raised her arm, "It's now below my elbow which means I am fully capable of smacking you over the head with it."

"Shutting up," Antonio pressed his lips together and stepped away from Mia.

"Let's start looking before the whole team ends up in a cast," Kevin suggested while wrapping an arm around Mia to calm her down. The rest of the team agreed with him and they set out to find Emily.


	2. Family

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Antonio called as he searched through the bushes for Emily. The rest of the team was looking high and low for the yellow Ranger. Her Samuraizer's signal was coming from this area of the forest outside the city, but it wasn't exact, which meant the Rangers had a little searching to do before they found their youngest member.

"We're all back to normal again," Kevin promised, hoping Emily could hear him. She had sworn she wouldn't return to them until they stopped arguing. He hoped she would believe him and come out from her hiding spot.

"We're going to go out for ice-cream," Mia added. "All five of us! Six if you turn up."

"Em, we know you're here," Mike pulled out his Samuraizer and searched the forest very carefully for any signs of movements. "Don't make me call your sister."

"Calling…" Jayden smirked. He grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and hoped Emily hadn't turned off her phone's ringer. He dialled her number and listened carefully for a ring. The four other Rangers smiled at him when they recognised Emily's ring tune.

"You're brilliant, Jay," Kevin gave his leader a pat on the back as they all raced through the trees and followed the sound of the ringing phone. It stopped suddenly, likely because Emily turned off her phone, but they were so close to finding her now.

Emily was nowhere on the ground from what Mia could see, so the pink Ranger looked up. She chuckled when she saw Emily sitting up in a tree.

"I see you, Emy," Mia smiled while the yellow Ranger crossed her arms over her chest.

"Not fair," Emily pouted. "You can't call my phone."

The boys gathered around Mia and looked up at Emily. She was too high for them to reach. They couldn't get her down unless she wanted to come down. Mike knew that that meant. They were going to have to convince her that they had all forgiven each other. He wrapped his arm around Jayden and smiled at his girlfriend.

"We're working things out, Em, I promise," he told her. "It's not going to be stressful and weird at home. Not anymore."

"I made a stupid mistake," Jayden added. "It won't happen again, Em. None of you will get hurt on my watch, I swear."

"No more programming that stupid Box?" Emily asked. "No more lies? Are you done lying, Jayden?"

Jayden lowered his gaze slightly but then his own voice echoed in his head.

_"The responsibility of red Ranger is mine, and mine alone. This team is my team. They are my friends. Nothing will ever change that. It is my duty to protect them as my father protected their parents."_

"I'm not lying to you, Em," he smiled. "One of my duties as red Ranger is to lead this team in and out of battle. It's stressful, but there's nothing else I would rather do."

"You make us sound like we're pains in the butt," Emily huffed. "We can take care of ourselves, you know. We're not stupid."

"Says the yellow Ranger from the tree," Kevin chuckled. Emily stuck her tongue out at him.

"My Zord's the Monkey," she said. "And at least she's real and not some stupid fairy tale monster that breathes another Ranger's element."

"Are you coming out of the tree or not?" Kevin rolled his eyes. Emily shook her head.

"Not until we're all friends again."

"We are all friends, Emy," Mia smiled. "I'm not going to say everything's fixed. We've still got some things to work out, but we're all making an effort. That's a huge step."

"And you're not just saying that?" Emily asked.

Mia shook her head, "I know it's hard to hear your family fighting, Emy. When it's all you've got, you don't want to see them hating each other. It wasn't right of us to stay mad and not try to work things out. We've all learned our lesson."

"No more nightmares?"

"None."

"No more yelling at lunch time or in the middle of the night."

"No more," Mike nodded.

"No more punching each other?"

"That was once," Kevin teased Jayden as he nudged the red Ranger playfully. "He deserved it."

"Kevin…"

"I'm kidding, Em," Kevin looked back up in the three. "Will you come down now?"

"Antonio?" Emily's eyes fell on the gold Ranger. He smiled back at her.

"We're a team again. If you need us to prove it, we'll all climb up into that tree and bring you down whether you want to come with us or not."

"That's called kidnapping," Emily reached for the branch above her head and started pulling herself up higher. "It's not very nice and could get you all… hey!"

Emily looked at her waist when she felt something grab her and she noticed one of the branches was wrapping itself around her. She tried pulling it off and getting free, but the branch wouldn't let go. It lifted her out of the tree and lowered her to the ground before letting her go and disappearing. Emily glared at her boyfriend who blew on the tip of his Samuraizer before putting it away.

Emily frowned at Mike, "You suck."

"Actually, I think I'm getting better at this Symbol Power thing," Mike wrapped his arms around Emily. "Come home with us, please. We promise things won't be weird and tense."

Emily shook her head, "I'm not going home…"

"Em…"

"No," Emily interrupted Antonio, "Mia promised me ice-cream."

Mia chuckled and pulled her best friend into a hug. Kevin groaned loudly as he realised he was going to have to make another trip to the ice-cream shop. He looked to his fiancée.

"Will you stop promising her ice-cream?"

Mia shrugged her shoulders and pointed to Emily's smile, "It makes her smile."

"Antonio's shiny Ranger suit makes her smile," Kevin grumbled. "Just ask him to morph. At least I don't have to pay for that."

"I don't want to morph," Antonio whined. "I love the spandex as much as the next guy, but after a little while the pants start to ride up and it just gets weird."

"You won't have to morph," Jayden wrapped his arm around Antonio's shoulders, "Ice-cream sounds like a good idea."

Kevin shook his head and pointed to Emily, "The sprinkles make her hyper…"

"Don't get her sprinkles," Jayden shrugged.

"But I want sprinkles," Emily frowned. Mike stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her cheek and laughed.

"You can have sprinkles," he glanced over at Kevin, "So, I take it you're paying, huh dude?"

"No… what, why?"

"Your girlfriend offered," Antonio smirked and before Kevin could say anything Antonio led Jayden, Mike and Emily out of the forest and into the city.

Kevin turned to Mia, "Seriously. We have plenty of sweets at home."

"You secretly love it," Mia laughed. Kevin shook his head.

"Next time, at least talk to me before you promise them ice-cream. You know how excited they get."

Mia gently tapped Kevin on the cheek, "Why would I waste five minutes of my life having a conversation with you when I know it's only going to end in us getting ice-cream."

"Says who?"

Mia pulled Kevin in for a kiss, "Because it makes me happy."

"Stop doing that," Kevin chuckled as he pulled Mia into his arms and leaned in for another kiss. Before their lips touched, they heard someone clearing their throat and a repeated thumping noise in the dirt. Both Kevin and Mia turned to see Emily staring at them.

"You two can kiss later. The ice cream is going to melt! Hurry up!" Emily raced behind the couple and then proceeded to push them out of the forest. "Come on, come on! You promised!"

"We should have left you in the tree," Kevin chuckled and rolled his eyes.


End file.
